LOWELL -- Angela Westen was traveling the world. She stopped in France, Italy and Spain, and next up was America for six months.

Or so she thought.

"It's amazing because I really wasn't planning to stay here," said Westen, owner of Angela Westen Insurance Agency. "It was just supposed to be a six-month visa. I didn't come here to make money. It was just for pleasure and to see the USA."

But she never left, building the insurance agency from the ground up in Lowell.

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Now, Westen, 52, is one of 26 immigrants in Massachusetts nominated for The Immigrant Learning Center's 2013 Immigrant Entrepreneur Awards. They "represent outstanding business leaders" who founded businesses, and seven of the 26 nominees are from Lowell.

Life was good for Westen when she moved from Brazil in 1999. She had just graduated from college with a business degree, she was employed and she had an apartment.

However, her Brazil life ended when she came to Massachusetts, working with a friend in her second month here.

Angela Westen of Lowell says every day is busy at her Angela Westen Insurance Agency in Lowell. SUN/Julia Malakie

She learned about insurance policies and joined Harrington Insurance in Woburn after a few years.

"But I had a dream to open my own business," Westen said. "I didn't want to work for anyone else."

So four years ago, she opened the Lowell agency, offering auto insurance, home and apartment insurance, professional liability insurance and more. She also offers individual tax preparation, notarization, Portuguese/English translations, immigration services and Brazilian passports and visas.

"Every day is very busy. Some days I'm staying here until 7 or 7:30 p.m.," Westen said. "My husband asks me, 'Why do you work so many hours?' Because I like to work.

"I feel very happy when I help the customer," she added. "I want to continue to offer the best prices and be a part of the community."

Westen says she has heard of some insurance agencies deceiving customers about policies and lying about prices. She says her honesty has helped her acquire loyal clients along the way.

"Being honest and offering good services is most important," Westen said. "I don't work for only the money. I want to help the customer and this makes me happy."

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